Finding entrepreneurial success: How SMU Alum Jeffrey Chua established himself in the competitive baby care industry

Singaporeans are an entrepreneurial lot. In 2020, even as job stability was a challenge for many during the pandemic, 63 per cent expressed a desire to start their own business, according to a survey by recruitment firm Randstad.

However, as SMU MBA alumni and scholar Jeffrey Chua elucidates, “Starting a business is easy – everyone can start a business. However, to run a successful business, growing and sustaining it, and even plan for a future strategic exit is a different ball game by itself.” In fact, more than 73,000 business entities ceased operations between March 2020 and September 2021.

A former vice-president in UOB who headed a team in Group Finance, Jeffrey went on to start a baby care company, NatureBond. The business was listed among a list of Singapore’s fastest-growing companies in 2022 by The Straits Times and Germany-based global research firm Statista, and was also recently inducted into The Financial Times High-Growth Companies Asia-Pacific 2022.

What inspired him to start his own business

He first got into the idea of becoming a business owner after experiencing successful runs in his career as a banker and management consultant.

Driven by a desire to “create value”, Jeffrey relished the opportunity presented by the rising e-commerce boom that held much promise for “rising new brands”: in 2017, he took the plunge and emerged with his very own company Millennium Enterprise.

“Being a successful business owner is a milestone that I always wanted to challenge,” he says, before adding: “I have nothing to lose – if I fail, at most I will return to the banking industry. If I succeed, it is a golden experience that no money in the world can buy.”

And it has certainly turned out well for him, as part of his stable of brands was baby care label NatureBond, which Jeffrey had developed from the ground up.

“When I started Millennium Enterprise, I aimed to own and build several brands that I hope can last millennia, and brands that can create value for the next millennials (generation). This gave rise to the name of the company,” he explains.

Venturing into the competitive baby care industry

Currently, through its various entities in countries including US and China, NatureBond has managed to establish a foothold in multiple markets. With more than 30 baby product patents developed and owned by them in less than five years, the multi-million revenue-generating brand has made waves in more than 20 countries via e-commerce and retail, and growth is unlikely to taper off anytime soon.

Launched after his daughter Clara was born, the brand is inspired by the unconditional love parents have for their children, and its products are also designed to journey alongside new parents. For instance, its silicone breast pump, baby feeder and baby ice cream teether are some offerings that have gained incredible traction on social media, with the baby feeder garnering more than 28,000 consumer reviews on Amazon alone by 2022.

When asked about the apparent competitiveness of the industry and limitations presented by local domestic demand, he remains unfazed and steadfast about NatureBond’s brand positioning and ability to capture various baby care markets around the globe.

“Although Singapore is typically considered a small market for baby products, it did not stop us from going global,” explains Jeffrey.

“Internationally, the baby care market in countries like US, UK and India is huge. We turned this into our advantage and encouraged our team to think global when developing our products and marketing materials, to tap on international potential.”

How an MBA at SMU shaped his journey as an entrepreneur

Crediting much of his achievements to learnings from his time at SMU as an MBA candidate, Jeffrey recognises that the programme has equipped him with the necessary know-how in taking his business off the ground.

According to him, “an entrepreneur will face challenges from different aspects of the business - financial management, corporate finance, strategy, marketing, technology, HR, leadership, as well as law and negotiation”. By partaking in the course, he managed to gain a solid understanding of the ins and outs of his business, while also being enabled with confidence to lead his different functional managers.

In particular, he notes that the knowledge gained from Venture Capital and Mergers and Acquisition modules taught by Dr Ang Ser Keng remains invaluable for him until today, so much so that he even returned to SMU in August 2021 for a refresher course.

Acknowledging Dr Ang to be a faculty member that was approachable, Jeffrey shares that Dr Ang was also helpful in doling out advice to assuage some of his concerns as a budding entrepreneur.

“I would say that the MBA was an important phase in my life that broadened my perspectives and made me realise that doing business globally is something that is within reach,” he concludes.